Paradox
by mirrorshade
Summary: When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, what happens? In a battle between Ise Nanao and Kuchiki Byakuya, who wins?
1. Chapter 1

_When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, what happens? In a battle between Ise Nanao and Kuchiki Byakuya, who wins?_

This is partially inspired by Feilyn's 'The Stage' which I lack the vocabulary to describe appropriately, so I'll settle for 'jaw-droppingly awesome'. However this is more on the subject of Rangiku friendship with Nanao than her relationship with Byakuya, though that naturally plays an important part.

I own nothing - this is based off Kubo Tite's masterly work.

* * *

"_It doesn't matter." A bitter smile. "Isn't that the way it's meant to go, Kuchiki-taicho? Your first love is always supposed to be the worst. These things aren't made to last."_

_I half expected him to follow._

_He didn't._

'_The Stage'_

* * *

'_I am Matsumoto Rangiku and I do not cry. I am Masumoto Rangiku and I do not cry...'_

Several minutes back her reminder to herself had become a mantra. The only thing stopping her from bursting into tears in front of the entirety of Seireitei.

Damn Byakuya and his pride.

'Damn me and _my_ pride.'

She walked with her shoulders thrown back, head held high - the very image of a true shinigami fuktaichō, if not for the fact that her eyes focused on the distant horizon so none could see the encroaching redness in her eyes.

She stopped suddenly, realising her feet had been instinctively guiding her back in the direction of the 10th Division. She understood why, since whenever she had had a bad day in the past, teasing her cute little taichō had always lifted her spirits – or at least distracting her from the instinct to scream and break something. Or someone, as she was now tempted to do.

But as she stood outside the 9th, listening to Shūhei lead his division through their drills, she realised that this time it was something not even Tōshirō could help with. As unintentionally sweet and intelligent as her taichō was, sometimes he just didn't _get it_. Despite the fact that he was back to his usual self, she couldn't go and drop all of her problems on top of him. Byakuya seeming to be the cause of all her problems (and neither of them had any idea how to talk to emotional women).

Her mind ran over the alternatives. Byakuya (that stupid, arrogant, _gorgeous_ bastard) was naturally out, as was Tōshirō; the boys of the 11th (apart from Yumichika) were useless with anything that didn't consist of blades or fists, so that only left her last resort. Sake. Most others would have scolded her for turning to alcohol as a coping method, but it was one that had always seemed to work before. She could go and get wasted in a way she hadn't since the end of war, pass out, and wake up to Tōshirō shouting at her, which would help her get back some sense of normality, but Nanao would...

That was it. Turning on her heel, away from the 10th, she used shunpo to go back the way she had come.

Ise Nanao considered herself to be an extremely practical, calm person, never at a loss for an explanation or a swift retaliatory remark. She sat in a dignified seiza on the engawa outside her office, savouring the sunshine whilst pointedly ignoring her captain-lover's distant whining about the cruelty of his 'lovely Nanao-chan'.

She shuffled meticulously through the papers, the slight frown that was a semi-permanent fixture on her face deepening at the sight of reports that dated back to the Muromachi era. Generally the squad did their paperwork on time, since the fact that their fukutaichō could terrify the psychotic Kurotsuchi-taichō just by removing her glasses was spoken about with equal amounts of pride and fear by the division. But Kyōraku was another matter.

Paying no attention to the fusuma outside slamming open, she rose with her ever-present grace to her feet, honing in on her lover's reiatsu while a familiar lecture unfurled itself in her mind.

"Shunsui, get in here" she snapped, dispensing with work formalities and turning towards the new presence that had made itself known.

"Rangiku you really shouldn't..." It was a series of firsts for Nanao, all in succession. The first time she had left a sentence incomplete, the first time she had experienced the dizzying feeling of complete and utter confusion. The first time she had been struck dumb by Matsumoto Rangiku's appearance.

Ever sunny, ever gorgeous Rangiku was standing in the doorway, clothes rumpled, perfect hair unkempt, breathing hard _and Heaven above was she crying?_ Had she seen the former things alone she would have assumed that Rangiku had been enjoying herself recently, but grey eyes that usually twinkled with mirth were empty and glassed over with hurt, tears that only pride was holding back threatening to crack the brittleness of the blank mask she was wearing.

Baffled, mute Nanao took stock of the situation in a heartbeat, her natural calm, all-encompassing manner weighing up her choices and the consequences even more swiftly. Ise Nanao took the only option a best friend could.

She opened her arms.


	2. Chapter 2

I am so sorry for the delay to this! My computer has spent the last week being fixed and I'm still trying to work out how my laptop works. Thank you for your patience, and I intend to have the next chapter typed up as soon as possible.

* * *

Paradox

Chapter Two

The role reversal was unexpected, sudden and endlessly disturbing. Before Nanao had finally settled with Shunsui – by realising that the last thing he would ever do is cast her aside, and the last thing she would ever do is walk away – she had spent time buried in her friend's embrace, pouring her soul out to the sympathetic ears of Matsumoto Rangiku. But to anyone else the situation reversed with simply bizarre – Nanao was not known for her gentleness nor warmth, though her subordinates often came to her when the needed calm, wise but kind advice. Rangiku had her arms firmly locked around Nanao's waist, face hidden from view in the dark-haired fukutaichō's shoulder.

Nanao, however, had known Rangiku long enough that she had seen her more fragile moments, times when she couldn't hold her natural smile up in public. Nanao petted the luxurious hair softly, as she used to when Rangiku was drunk and depressed. She touched Rangiku's shoulder gently, before remembering with a slight wince that that was the numb side.

"Rangiku, what happened?" She asked, her usual blunt manner asserting itself. Although her practical manner annoyed many (including herself, on occasion), her tendency to say things as they were healed more hearts than broke them. With Rangiku, she usually listened quietly to her friend, working as a sounding board for her ideas – though Rangiku always insisted afterwards that Nanao 'always knows exactly what to say'. Here, however, she had been caught unawares.

Rangiku's sobs continued, and Nanao felt a hot spike of anger that translated into a sharp spike in her reiastu. There wasn't a man in the world who had the right to make Rangiku cry.

A flash of insight.

"Byakuya, ne?" She decided, and was rewarded by her friend's sharp, hitching intake of breath.

"Bastard" Came the mumble from her collarbone, near where an Arrancar in the war had attempted to take her head, with an almost successful result. Her taichō's borderline suicidal behaviour during her week-long coma was still a taboo subject amongst the 8th Division, and Rangiku had refused to tell her what Shunsui had done to wind up in a bed next to her the day she woke up.

The perfect hunting-bow mouth pursed and indigo eyes narrowed behind her glasses "Indeed" she agreed mildly, before frowning "Rangiku, you're..."

"An idiot of gigantic proportions?"

"No more so than anyone else" Nanao replied firmly "I was going to ask if you were running away"

Another sharp breath "There's something called sensitivity, Nanao"

"I am well aware of the concept, Rangiku, I just have no need for it" and because Nanao also had a stubborn unwillingness to let topics slide, she asked again "Well?"

"I can't see him, Nanao. I'll either cry and beg him to take me back or _kill_ him"

"So you _are_ running away from him then?" She repeated, jumping when Rangiku poked her sharply in the ribs. The bubbly woman sat up, straightening out her uniform and delicately wiping at the mascara lines down her cheeks. Nanao felt another twist of anger.

"Curse of pride, remember? The point of being with him was to walk next to him as an equal, not trail behind him like a love-sick puppy, Nanao"

Nanao blinked "I thought you were in it for the sex, Rangiku". Shunsui appeared in the doorway after hearing the word, but Nanao's barely restrained glare sent him back to the piles of paperwork on his desk.

"That too" Rangiku sighed "This is the stupidest thing I have ever done"

She gazed at Nanao as her friend tilted her head, piercing gaze for once gentled to match her low voice "What?"

"Falling in love with Kuchiki Byakuya" Rangiku lifted her head and gave a smile that was just a shadow of a memory of its usual brightness. Nanao had never seen her look quite so _broken_ before. Not after Ichimaru's betrayal. Not even after his death. Rangiku had finally fallen for someone and fallen hard.

She suddenly knew what to do.

She rose with her usual grace for her seiza position and hugged Rangiku once more, just for luck. If she thought it was odd that her reserved, shy friend was starting their hugs she didn't say anything, intent on the floor as she was.

"Shu-Kyōraku-taichō" She called, correcting herself out of old habit. As he sidled into the room she glanced down at Rangiku, telling him with her eyes what she wanted him to do.

"Nanao-chan, where are you going?"

She paused in the doorway and turned, giving her lover a smile that was serene but filled with malice. Nanao had been angry in her life a handful of times – in her youth she had struggled with her temper, but had managed to control it with years of practice. The last time she had gotten angry had been years ago, on a rainy night when she had woken up and realised Kaien, a friend since childhood and an ally since their Academy years, was dead. But even that anger had faded into a soft, sad melancholy – Kaien had died because he loved Miyako, after all. The hot rage that she was struggling to force down now was entirely new.

She continued to give the smile that was beginning to terrify the captain when she spoke "I'm going to talk to Kuchiki-taichō".


	3. Chapter 3

And this is it, the final chapter! And as a bonus, it's over double the length of either of the last two. Thank you for the reviews and the support you've given - even when I 'dissapeared' for a month a so between chapters 1 and 2.

Some notes: You can learn a lot about anime characters by listening to them speak in their original language (as I do - I hate most dubbing with the passion of a thousand suns going supernova). Such as in Bleach, where in Japanese you'll notice that Kyōraku always addresses people by their first name and then a suffix (e.g. Nanao-chan, Sōsuke-kun for Aizen, etc). I've used Byakuya's manner of referring to people only by their last name in this fic, so I hope that's cleared up why Nanao is only called 'Ise'. You probably didn't need to be told this, but oh well, I've done it anyway.

Second, Orihime and Hitsugaya - why? Why not, I reply. And squidgeesushi, I'm glad you like the snippets I added - since there's not nearly enough information about Nanao (apart from the fact she's a kidō master) I felt like I had to add details. Why isn't there more information?? As cool as the 10th, 11th and 13th are, we barely know anything about the others!

Thirdly, there's a slight perspective change from Nanao to Byakuya, since at that point the story flows better from his view. I hope it doesn't jar too much.

Thank you!

* * *

_She continued to give the smile that was beginning to terrify the captain when she spoke "I'm going to talk to Kuchiki-taichō"._

Which was how Nanao came to be standing outside of the 6th Division Headquarters, glasses flashing in a way that made several seated officers run for cover. The instincts for danger they had acquired from years of fighting hollows made them back off, with the ones too dense to notice following their friends. Whatever the 8th Division's fukutaichō was here for, they weren't sticking around to find out.

Nanao was about to step into the now empty courtyard when a sweet, chirpy voice brought her up short "Nanao-san!"

She felt an unintentional smile pull at her mouth as the owner of the voice barrelled into view. Ishida Orihime was so inhumanly sweet, who couldn't smile at her? Even if she fit into the recent trend of opposites attracting (such as her and Shunsui, Rangiku and Kuchiki-taichō, and even she wondered about what was going on between Madarame-taichō and Ayasegawa-fukutaichō sometimes) by marrying that Quincy boy. She battled the smile down and turned to greet the maelstrom of red hair and boobs that flung itself at her – Orihime was one of the few people in Seireitei that had no problem with hugging the stern, taciturn fukutaichō of the 8th.

"Orihime-san" Nanao acknowledged, before looking up at the silent figure that had followed the girl "Hitsugaya-taichō".

The man nodded before frowning "Matsumoto, she..."

"Rangiku is in the 8th with Kyōraku-taichō, sir." Nanao interrupted, before looking at the girl – even though she was in her thirties, it was impossible to see Orihime as anything else – who still had her arms looped around Nanao's shoulders "Could you see to Rangiku, Orihime-san? I think she could do with some company." Nanao paused and amended that sentence "Company that isn't a sake bottle"

Orihime nodded seriously, warm smile dimmed for once "I'll do my best" She promised "We followed your reiatsu because we couldn't feel Rangiku-san...but what are you doing here, Nanao-san?"

"Shunsui's reiatsu tends to engulf anyone else's" Nanao commented wryly "But I'm here to speak to Kuchiki-taichō" She gave them the same vicious smile she had given Shunsui minutes earlier, and then turned away to continue on into the 6th's offices.

She felt Orihime turn and bounce away towards the 8th, Hitsugaya following close behind. He really is very fond of that girl, Nanao mused as she walked into the equally silent office building, word having spread that Ise Nanao and her deadly glasses had appeared. She walked past the desk and glanced down at the nervously babbling 6th fukutaichō. Renji's red shock of hair fluttered as he stared up at her from behind the mounds of paper on his desk.

"Is Kuchiki-taichō here, Abarai-san?" She asked for politeness' sake, since Byakuya was in and she knew it.

"Course. Go ahead, Ise-san." He managed, burying himself back in his paperwork but staring at her as she walked past. She gave him a smile that possibly frightened him even more than he 

had already been and swept into the captain's office like a queen. Renji shook his head and escaped the 6th Division – Nanao had been his and Rukia's senpai in their years at the Academy where she taught kidō, but even if she had despaired of him sometimes, he had never seen her that angry before. Better to get out before the faceoff between two equally stubborn people turned nasty.

Nanao settled herself in a chair in front of Kuchiki's desk and waited patiently for him to acknowledge her.

--

Byakuya paused mid-stroke as Ise entered his office and settled herself in front of his desk, seeming to be happy to wait for him to react. He had felt her meet Hitsugaya and the ryoka girl outside before they moved on, so he had a nagging sensation that he knew exactly why Ise was here. He set down his pen finally and looked up in the cold, elegant face of the 8th Division fukutaichō.

She knew about his dalliance with Matsumoto, he knew that much. Ise was her closest friend, and the expression on her face said that they had been talking recently.

"Ise-fukutaichō." He acknowledged "What is it you wanted?"

She tilted her head and fixed him with a smile that rumours said had been learned from Unohana. It radiated none of the gentle captain's warmth, however – he was being pinned with an expression similar to pure malice "I am here to protest your treatment of the 10th Division's Matsumoto Rangiku, sir."

He frowned, slightly "My treatment of her, Ise?"

"You had...relations with her, correct? I am here to speak to you about your behaviour towards her, sir"

He didn't let himself utter so much as a sigh, but he asked anyway "Did Matsumoto send you, Ise?"

"No, sir. I sent myself." She answered, just as evenly "May I speak?"

"If Matsumoto-fukutaichō has a problem, she can come to me with it herself" He replied, matching her tone and looking back down at his paperwork, expecting her to follow his unspoken dismissal. He forgot, however, that Ise was one of Kyōraku's trained officers, not his, and so unlikely to obey unless they had what they wanted. It was a main reason why he had not placed Rukia under the interfering captain's command, though he thought that Ise's influence on his sister would have been a good thing.

"May I speak, sir?" Nanao continued, voice taking on a steely tone.

He looked back up at the dangerously controlled woman, and he realised he had to re-analyse her. When they had first met, he had guessed that Kyōraku would drive this one away as quickly as he had the others, and dismissed her. But she had been around for several decades now, and unfortunately seemed to have acquired her captain's persistence. Her carefully contained reiatsu betrayed little apart from the fact that even though he could defeat her in battle, she 

could inflict a fair amount of damage. And even if he won, he would have Kyōraku and Ukitake after his head, and Matsumoto would never, ever forgive him.

He gave in. Though he would never admit it, he had heard the horror stories about what happened when Ise removed her glasses and had no intention of experiencing it himself "Speak if you must, Ise."

"Why, Kuchiki-taichō?"

"Why _what_?" He hissed back, not liking how he had managed to sound like a petulant child.

"Rangiku, sir. It is not normal behaviour to ignore someone's existence after you have been...intimate."

He ignored the way she skirted around using explicit language and fixed her with a sharp look "Define normal behaviour, Ise."

"You love her, correct?" She continued, as if he had never spoken. A less controlled person would have sucked in a breath at both her impertinence and the sharpness of her observation. But Kuchiki Byakuya was nothing if not a controlled man, and so all that happened in reply was a clenched jaw.

Nanao nodded thoughtfully to herself, fingers running over the careworn cover of her book "And since it happened twice, and you reacted the same way. You addressed her as though she was any other person."

"She told you this?"

"Only the first time." She was watching him closely, now. Every single movement he made was being analysed – he refused to meet her eyes "I imagined what lead to her breakdown in my voice was as a direct result of you. I do not want such as thing to happen again." Even with her articulate speech, there was an undercurrent to her words that he knew he was meant to hear.

"A threat, Ise-fukutaichō?" He asked, something past his normal neutral tone creeping into his voice.

"If something is not done, Kuchiki-taichō, it might well be, yes." She replied smoothly, voice softening vaguely as she changed the topic to her lover "I understand noble families, Kuchiki-taichō. Kyōraku is one, and though I doubt what I went through will be on par with what will happen to Rangiku, is it right that you take this chance from her?"

How had she...? "I believe her anger before we parted means that she no longer wishes to have anything to do with me."

"Kuchiki-taichō, if you cannot understand even the basic reaction of the lover being rejected by the beloved, then maybe you deserve you remain alone" Her voice was harsh now – he had forgotten how Ran-Matsumoto had once referred to Nanao as her protective sister, only half in jest. He glared at her, silently willing her to leave, but she returned the expression with one of her own, before she gave a sigh that seemed to shake her entire form "Perhaps this exercise was hopeless. Excuse me for wasting your time, Kuchiki-taichō."

--

She stood and bowed to him, sweeping out of the door and back to the 8th Division, wiping her glasses and sighing about the impossibility of men.

At his desk, Byakuya stared at the pen in his hand, looking past it as his mind replayed Ise's earlier words. Even if he was irritated that in the latter part of the conversation Ise had neglected to call him 'sir', as far as he could tell, she never used words idly and anything she said would have been said for a reason.

'_...lover being rejected by the beloved'_. But it was Rangiku's fault, really. She had refused to talk to him, not seen his reasons, and ignored his attempt to talk to her. And...

...if she had not been so hurt by him, she wouldn't have lashed out. The reason fell into place with the finality that most revelations came with, even the unpleasant ones. She was hurt because of what had happened. No, by the way he acted afterwards. Without even bothering to speak to Renji, he flash stepped out of his office and down the road.

He blurred through the 8th's offices and stopped a few paces away from Matsumoto as she sat underneath a sakura tree, staring up at the petals as if they held the answers to life's mysteries. He could feel Kyōraku and the ryoka edging away inside, and saw Hitsugaya give him a look that promised death if he didn't fix it before the white-haired captain followed the others' lead.

He stepped forward, and she turned to look at him, the beautiful face close but the eyes distant "We need to talk."

She didn't say anything, didn't encourage him, but she was still there, listening. Understanding? Maybe not. But listening, all the same. Gathering his courage, Byakuya took the plunge, and began to speak.

--

Nanao entered her offices five minutes later, having opted to walk rather than flash step back to the piles of paperwork probably waiting for her. The first thing she was aware of was the flash of pink before her taichō swept her off the ground in an almost bruise-inducing embrace.

"My Nanao-chan is unhurt, I hope!" He exclaimed finally after placing her down on the ground – which only happened after she threatened him with use of her tome.

"Of course, taichō" She answered after straightening her clothes and hair "Nothing would have happened, not without you knowing anyway" She slated a glance at him "I could feel you checking my reiatsu"

He didn't even have the grace to look guilty "I had to keep an eye on you, precious Nanao-chan. Besides, your plan seems to have worked" He gestured to the far corner of the courtyard. Where Byakuya and Rangiku were talking earnestly, apology in his gaze and forgiveness in hers.

"Who'd have thought that my Nanao-chan was a closet romantic!" He all but squealed in her ear before she shushed him affectionately, running a hand down his arm to link their fingers "What did you do to convince him?"

She blinked thoughtfully and then looked up at him, a teasing twinkle in normally serious eyes "I smiled?"

And without waiting for his reply she pulled him inside, leaving the equally mismatched pair outside, to whisper to each other in the light of the dying sun.

**_-owari-_**


End file.
